Beacons

Google has been working for a while now on ways to bring more Bluetooth beacon projects into its ecosystem, including the launch of its Eddystone open beacon format and its concept of the “app-free” Physical Web. Today a vendor in the UK unveiled a new project that shows how transportation might fit into the picture.
Proxama, which operates a network of Bluetooth beacons in… Read More

At this point, we’ve probably all heard (or experienced!) the scenario where you’re walking past a store and your phone buzzes to alert you about nearby deals. The challenge, though, is sending a message that’s actually interesting, useful and maybe even exciting, rather than annoying.
Nevin Jethmalani, co-founder and CEO of Notify Nearby, said he’s had that… Read More

Estimote, a beacon company whose small, wireless sensors and accompanying software provide indoor location technology to some of the largest retailers as well as 65 percent of the Fortune 100, has now closed on $10.7 million in Series A funding. The round will help the business scale to meet the needs of its current customer base, around half of which is retail, as well as fund R&D… Read More

Beacon marketing company inMarket is unveiling a new technology that it calls Quantum Receptivity, which it says can help marketers figure out when they should show an ad to a shopper and have the biggest impact.
“It’s really about cherry picking marketing times — not just things like days of week, but based on each individual’s unique… Read More

Target, the second largest general merchandise retailer in the U.S., announced this morning that it will start testing beacon technology in 50 of its stores nationwide. With beacon technology, the company says it will be able to send information about deals as well as recommendations directly to consumers’ smartphones, provided they opt in to receive these alerts. Initially, the… Read More

The Internet of Things promised us a deeper connection with our objects. We would be hugging our toasters, marrying our fridges, and sleeping with our bathroom scales. But nothing out there so far could talk back to us until the Woolet.
The Woolet is a wallet that contains a small beacon that connects to your phone. When you leave (or lose) your wallet, the phone will buzz to let you know. Read More

Shove over Tinder. Swiss startup Blinq has come up with a new twist on the dating app. The startup is incorporating beacon proximity technology into the mix so singles can do more meeting IRL and less swiping — thanks to select venues being kitted out with Blinq’s Estimote iBeacons. Read More

Looks like I might have to revise my perception of in-store beacons as technology that won’t matter until a year or two or three from now (at best). I don’t have industry-wide numbers, but on its own, startup inMarket says it’s already reaching a significant percentage of US consumers — 31.5 million of them each month.
If you’re skeptical, well, inMarket is… Read More

Enterprise Wi-Fi provider Aruba Networks officially lights up their homegrown beacon network and accompanying smartphone app at Levi’s Stadium today. After having been in “beta” mode for that last several months, the deployment now enables a host of location-based services for stadium goers like: quickly and accurately finding concessions, restrooms, and seats with the… Read More

Latest Crunch Report

After indoor positioning with Wi-Fi, beacon technology is a massive step forward in ambient context identification, which is why this technology is all the buzz of late. Beacons allow for background positioning and detection, giving new power to a phone that can make it truly “smart.” Read More

iBeacon, the Bluetooth Low Energy technology that is being used by businesses to push offers and other messages to customers’ smartphones when they are in the physical vicinity of a small pinging device, is starting to see some decent traction.
Businesses like Shopkick (recently acquired by SK planet for $200 million) have now rolled out some 7,500 of the devices across its retail… Read More

If you’ve ever finished a busy day at a conference — either manning one of the booths or just as a regular attendee — and then found yourself struggling to remember who the heck you actually talked to, a startup called Loopd may be able to help.
The company is officially launching its proximity-based marketing platform today, and it’s also announcing that it has raised… Read More

The Internet of Things gets a lot of hype, but its rollout is slow and it will take a long time for consumers to upgrade existing, non-connected devices that still work fine into something that can communicate with computing gadgets like smartphones. Estimote has put a lot of time and work into expediting our connected future via its beacon hardware and developer platform, and now the startup… Read More

From concert venues to your neighborhood grocery store, beacons are ushering in an age of touchless, context-based mobile experiences for savvy consumers. There have been plenty of exciting announcements touting beacons in 2014, and enormous interest in the field. However, there is also confusion about how to actually use these devices at scale. Read More

There has been a lot of talk about iBeacons since they launched with iOS 7 last fall, but much of the focus has been on how they benefit retailers and add to the in-store shopping experience. They have a much broader range of potential use, however, and part of that is consumer-focused, too. Placed is a new app that shows you how iBeacons might benefit anyone at home, by tying iBeacons to… Read More

Toronto-based Aislelabs wants retailers to be able to see the path of their customers, from the macro level right down to their in-store experience, using a combination of technologies include GPS, Wi-Fi and Beacon proximity information. To help with that, the startup has raised an initial $1.5 million in funding from IAF, Rho Ventures, Salesforce and a number of angel investors.
Like… Read More